Yes, siskins en masse can be quite a spectacle. I'll never
forget the largest concentration of landbirds I've ever
encountered: it was a giant "flock" of siskins. The site was
an old-growth hemlock-Douglas fir stand at Ohanapecosh, Mt
Rainier NP, March 1986. We were doing systematic
censuses of winter birds at multiple sites and had seen
several flocks of hundreds of siskins earlier in the winter (it
was a big cone crop year). But during both our visits in
March at this one site, the census got out of hand! There
were so many birds in the trees at almost every one of our 12
stations that it was literally impossible to count them. The
siskins were seemingly dripping from the trees they were so
numerous. They seemed to be on every branch of every tree
in considerable numbers. They were vocalizing constantly
and so about the only thing we could hear was siskins.
There were certainly at least many hundreds if not thousands
audible at every station, and at least hundreds of thousands
in the stand as a whole. They were feeding on the abundant
hemlock cones. There was also a lot of singing going on. It
did not have the feel of a 'flock' in the classic sense but in
another sense it could have been seen as one gigantic flock
covering the entire stand of many acres of old-growth. It
stands out as one of my most memorable bird experiences.
I wondered at the time if they were getting ready to breed en
masse, but the mass aggregation had dissipated by the time
we returned in May for breeding censuses.

Chris Chappell
Olympia, WA

>>> Ken Klimko <kkalimo at direct.ca> 02/28/98 08:01am
>>>
While between Pemberton and Whistler last weekend I
learned first
hand what gregarious, may flock by the thousands, means
when describing
Pine Siskin.

On my way down the highway, I caught a brief glimpse of a
swirling flock
of birds, similar to Western Sandpiper or Dunlin, in a clearing
of a
mixed conifer, deciduous woodlot surrounded by flat (no
snow)
agricultural fields. I immediately pulled off to the road
shoulder and
walked back toward the spectacle and noted another flock of
a few
hundred of these birds on the opposite side of the road.
They would fly
down from the trees to the ground and land with the following
bird
landing in front of the preceding bird, giving a rolling effect
much
like the Quellia I have seen on TV programs. Beside me on
my side of
the road there was a flock twice the size performing the
same feat. You
could hear the wind in their wings. I walked back toward the
clearing
only to witness hundreds more swirling amongst the trees.
The whole
woodlot was alive with white noise, coming from the
hundreds more that
were unseen in the woods. Spectacular!

Ken Klimko
Richmond BC